A Different Companion
by small-squad
Summary: Lore is a strange kind of borrower; she's curious about humans. So when an old blue Police box winds up near her, she has no choice but to go inside. But, while exploring, a tall man climbs in and sails off with her unknowingly. Maybe he'll never find her, maybe she'll turn into a new companion. Or maybe she'll just get kicked to the curb.
1. An Engine

Lore ducks her head underneath another wooden beam, greeting it as if it's an old friend. To her though it was, being the very first thing she used to map out the house when she moved into its walls.

After walking down the tunnel she takes a left from the plank to enter a little room cleared every trace of mice nests and webs. In front of her stands a small table for one with her bed tucked into the corner away from a makeshift pantry. All homemade, the feeling of love spreads through the room out of her little figure.

Hopping over to the table she sighs at the sight of her thimble chair tumbled over, showing signs that another draft got in. She pushes it from her mind as the contents from a strong leather bag pour onto the sturdy card table. Glancing at her chair a face is made as she ponders what a human could possibly use a thimble for. It can't hold sewing needles or cotton balls. Water yes but it's too little for a human to consider it a great cup.

Lore is a strange little borrower. Instead of simply taking things the owners wouldn't mind being gone, she thinks about each and every purpose they use them for while taking them. Not that she'll ever be able to do what the giants of the world do, but she enjoys the idea, even going as far as to learn about the humans owning the house she lives in without their knowledge.

She always gives her parents a heart attack at the stunts she pulls, but at least Lore doesn't cower in fear at the mention of humans...

Shaking her head of the rude comments she smiles at the food she managed to collect this time. A full cheerio, a piece of chocolate the wife dropped, and even a sliver of beef. With the great find she can lay low and maybe watch a movie tonight like the couple always does.

The clang of Lore's bent paper clip reminds her of all the hard work it takes to accomplish the task. A groan escapes her as she nods in agreement. Besides, it was still light outside.

A smile lights up her face as when she realizes with all the food in the pantry, she can go and check out the alleyway. Racing quietly out of the 'room', her footsteps pad through the halls toward a well remembered spot she found a while back. Past the slowly dripping water pipe and heater, around the crisscross beams of the house's structure and she comes to halt at a small hole leading to the outside.

A hole that barely stands just a bit lower than her two inch frame, she's come to love the way out without any fear of humans finding her. No matter how careless she is the lessons Lore's parents drilled into her still keep the loud voice of exploration and curiosity at a safe distance. Luckily the hole was already there, making sure no extra work had to be put in. And the best part, in leads into an alleyway that ends, making anyone thinking to go in immediately turn around the way they came.

Her cloth shoes step out as se ducks into the alleyway when an unfamiliar noise sounds, slowly getting louder and louder.

Lore jerks back into the safety of the walls after hearing the weird sound coming from outside. Leaning against the wall out of sight, she compares it to be mostly like an engine, having the quality of sound many cars she's heard have, but then again it seems as if it's wheezing. It's almost like a pure engine that's just having a bit trouble to start or stop.

Peeking her head back out just to see what exactly happened, her eyes land on a giant blue, box. On the top a white paint spells the words POLICE. What seems to be a door holds a sign reading about how to contact said police mentioned. From the angle its at to her spot Lore estimates it's a fairly large box for her, about three feet by three feet. All in all though it seems like a normal telephone both.

The problem is the box was never there before, and never has there been any other boxes in the little alleyway. Lore loved that about the spot, so how can a bright blue box just seemingly appear out of nowhere in one night?

Slowly standing up, Lore again begins to duck out of the hole, too curious to not check out the weird phone booth. Suddenly though, an extremely tall man nearly sprints out of the box, not bothering to shut it as he races out of the alleyway, a brown coat billowing behind him like a hero with a cape.

It all happens so fast the borrower doesn't even think about hiding until he's completely out of sight.

Trailing over the path he took, her mind reels with the possibilities of what he could possibly be doing. Movement from the corner of her eye attracts her attention right back to the blue box as the door swings open from the quick exit. Staring at it, it stays open, practically inviting the borrower to come take a look.

Just for a moment.

Lore makes sure the paper clip on her belt is secure as she sprints across the alleyway's cobblestone pattern. Having done it a few times before she expertly leaps over the small chasms humans easily ignored for being too small to be noticed.

Upon closer inspection the fine grain stands out in different colors than just the blue she saw from afar. Shrugging though her head twists to the wide open door, revealing a large room. Biting her lip shows the indecision inside the small head of hers. On one side her parents and even her carefree sister yell to get away from an enclosed space a human can easily trap her inside. On the other though, she gets the feeling the small-yet-not-small box can answer her a few questions about humans she never could have before.

Sucking a deep breath the first voice is slammed down as Lore hops over the edge of the door, landing soundly on a metallic plate. Her body quickly walks toward the giant console like object that stands in the middle of the room. Glancing left to right her wide eyes capture everything inside the beautiful room. The ceiling is higher than anything she's ever seen before, and to top it off there's even a lower level beneath the holed metal walkway.

Lore's smile lights up her face as she takes in the view of the giant console. Not only does it have screens and plenty of love put into it just like her little room, with some of the levers looking like parts from a car. A glowing button looks as if one it's the type of buttons used for human coats before. It draws her, but the floor below the small holes barely being too small to make her fall in is just too fascinating. A few lights flicker from below and reflects off her wide blue eyes.

A glance at the door reveals no one has come back, or even close to the strange blue box. Her lip again is bit out of habit as she contemplates the danger of staying longer or getting to safety.

No, too much for one day. Don't get caught up in all of it. Go home.

Lore sighs as she nods her head in resignation, turning toward the still wide open door. But as she glances down one final time, the sound of footsteps slowly get louder at a quick pace. Immediately the borrower whips out her paper clip and snags it the the edge of the raised floor, leaping off without so much as thinking about it.

About one inch above the floor she twists her leg into the fishing line and grabs on tightly to stop herself. The sting on her hands as they turn bright red is ignored when the sound of the door swinging shut echoes around the room. Her breath coming in short bursts, but at least there, she flicks her paper clip into her waiting hand and quickly ducks behind a metal cylinder of some sort.

She holds her head between her knees, silently hoping the giant in the room wouldn't find her.


	2. Getting Somewhere

Lore jerks at the sound of his footsteps walking around the console above her.

Everything inside her body is screaming to run. Run from the danger of being caught, of being hurt or even maimed, and especially from the reality she's dumped herself in once again. She's way in over her head, just like her family said would happen, and now the human might find her. So, if her desires got into this mess, then her parent's beliefs should be able to get her out.

With that in mind she carefully lifts her head up and looks around for an escape route, just like they taught her. Throwing her paper clip would definitely be seen so climbing back up is out. A staircase leading to the upper floor and to a hallway would work though as he only pays attention to the giant console. A nod ensues and she slowly gets up to run.

Suddenly the engine she heard before starts going again, only much, much louder. Lore ducks back down and covers her ears, eyes wide with fright of why the strange sound is louder. Did the sound come from the box instead of a car? But why? How? Above her a symphony of footsteps pounding into the metal grating echoes through the room. Lore feels alone, tiny, and extremely scared, but the complexity of what the man was doing is oddly alluring.

She carefully removes her hands from her ears as she stares at the shadow of the strange man dancing around the giant console. He seems to know what he's doing from the procedure of button pressing and lever flipping. It looks extremely confusing, and that's what she loves the most about the entire display.

Lore finds herself standing to see better when the entire room seems to shake. She yelps and latches onto the cylinder next to her, breathing in fast at the scare. It doesn't stop though and Lore grits her teeth. The pounding above her doesn't stop either, meaning he knew it would come, and she's left with simply knowing nothing at all of what's happening. She can credit herself with knowing a lot more about humans than other borrowers do, but this is way out of her league. Never has she heard of an entire room shaking. Maybe on T.V. but never outside that physical plane.

Just as suddenly as it started, it stops with Lore losing her grip at the jolt of what seemed to be a landing. And just like that, the man's running right out of the room without a care in the world as to what he just did. As if it was normal.

Picking herself off the ground as she grabs her paper clip, the man gone for who knows how long leaves Lore with two options. Either find out more about the man and what exactly happened, or go back home without so much as looking back.

It's safer back home. I'll be able to visit my parents, my sister, and we'd all eat from the pantry together. I'd go borrowing with her the next day and we'd laugh quietly at the stories they tell me in the time I've been gone. Everything will go back to the way it was and I'd be able to sleep in my warm nest of blankets. Lore sighs, admitting the train of thought sounds extremely pleasant and inviting. Almost making her regret ever coming toward the blue box in the first place.

But, the man seems to be someone on a mission, with a true meaning for life. She could at least watch him for a little bit and learn why the engine sound came from the giant room. Maybe even be able to measure its size the right way instead of estimating on her non-reliable stand point for measurements. She could really learn from this strange man that reminds her of the home she in the walls.

A smile comes back as she swings her paper clip up into the air, scrambling up the line to reach the first floor a second time.

This time however, she was climbing up the console towering over her tiny form.

It takes a few tries of tossing the paper clip onto a section among the buttons and levers, careful not to pull or push down on anything no matter if they look fairly safe. She didn't know what they could do, and in a nagging part of her mind she didn't want to know. Yet.

Her paper clip and fishing line are tied to the side of her hip, one little loop sewed on for that purpose only. Looking around she smiles at the array of levers and buttons all flashing brilliantly. Problem is, none of them are labeled or seem to be connected to a particular function of something, making it hard to really assess what a certain lever would do.

Her two inch form bobs around the different plants, marveling at the giant middle that looks as if it's made of blue light. After circling around the entire console, Lore puts her hands on her hips in admiration.

The man reminds her of a borrower. The way he uses different things for another purpose. Obviously he has more resources than any borrower, but at least he's resourceful. But even being close to acting like her people do he's still a human and that makes him dangerous.

Sighing, Lore grabs at her paper clip to get back onto the main floor to go home. The adventure was fun, but she only got a bit more confused about humans and what exactly they were able to do. Making an entire box that looks way more than three feet by four on the inside completely shake and move wasn't known as a possible thing in her mind. Humans could do amazing things but no where close to that kind of miracle.

A glint of silver catches the corner of her eye and Lore looks down to her left. Seeing it's odd shape and texture her hand slowly extracts itself from the loop holding her fishing line. Surprised she didn't see it before, the borrower kneels down to gently run her fingers over the silver body of what looks sort of like a pen. Obviously it was used for different things but it had the shape of one.

As soon as her hand brushes against what resembles a button, the door to the blue box swings open as the ecstatic man from before jogs in, only to freeze when dark brown eyes lock onto her kneeling form.


	3. Doctor Who

Lore's sister has this uncanning sense that tells her when humans are near, about to see her, or about to walk into the room before the tale tell rumbles of footsteps. Much like Lore she really likes to take risks, but her sense is able to be one incredible safety net. She's managed to be in the middle of a bedroom, yet still be completely in the walls and out of sight before Lore could even hear the human coming to the room.

The only problem for Lore is, she doesn't have that natural sense.

Their eyes stare into each other, trying to understand exactly what was occurring. Lore was surprised she didn't hear him running into the box. But it also seems as if he's surprised to see someone so small standing on the console obviously built by him. A minute goes by with neither making a single move, allowing Lore's mind to race with possibilities of what might happen to her now.

For one, she was seen. No matter how much she believes the giants of the world to be better than her family has chalked them up to be, she also thinks it's the best way to ask for death. Two, now that she can actually see him her body shakes in fright at how big he is. He's got to be taller than every human she's ever seen before, making him even the more terrifying. Third, and the worse one possible, is Lore doesn't know anything about this man. He could be someone to stay far away from, someone that takes advantage of those who can't defend themselves. Then again he might not be, but he's still an unknown meaning she has no idea what he'll do to try and grab her…

"What?"

The question makes Lore trip as she jerks back, not at all expecting something as innocent and non reacting as that.

The spell of her frozen body was broken though and as he spins around to do who knows what, Lore quickly leaps behind a lever. No no no no no! You knew this would happen! Now you'll pay for being so reckless!

"Hello?" the timid yet strong voice asks. Lore grabs her legs tightly against her stomach as she feels his footsteps get closer to the console. She becomes stiff when he stops right in front of it, almost being able to see the eyes scanning for her figure among the collection of buttons and levers. His hand doesn't come though, merely looking for a shadow or flicker of movement. Everything is over now. She'll never see her family again and her parents will never know how exactly she got caught. They'd know it's because of how reckless she is. That finally after trying to know humans more than their schedule was what did her in. Just like every other borrower who ventured too close.

But she's _not_ like every other borrower.

Lore grits her teeth when she realizes she's actually gotten out of things worse than now. Just because he spotted her doesn't mean he knows where she is. Her eyes land on her paper clip securely on her pant's loop. Glancing around she breathes when he still doesn't make a move. I've got a chance. Show everyone knowing more about humans is actually a good thing.

Her hand digs into a small pocket sewn onto the front of her pants to store crumbs for when she would watch movies in the vents at night. Grasping onto a small crumb, she moves her hand back and peeks around the corner to see where he was looking. Once his eyes are away from her spot she throws the crumb as far as she can.

Problem is, he simply looks at where it goes, staying where he stands, a giant grin on his face.

"I must say that was quite clever. All I have to criticize is make sure the distractie can't look at where you're throwing it from." The smile can be heard in his voice and Lore practically faints. But, he said something very odd too…

"You know where I am now?"

"Of course. Well, not exactly where you are but I have an idea," he answers, the smile still present. The borrower simply sits still against the lever, eyes wide with amazement.

'A-and you aren't g-grabbing me?" she questions.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear that. But I can assume it's about me hurting you. You've got nothing to fear. I'm the Doctor after all." Lore stares off where her crumb landed.

It's obvious he knows where she is, even if it wasn't from the crumb her voice would've given it away. Yet, against everything her parents claimed humans would do, he hasn't done anything to her. Could it be possible? Could he really not want to grab and take her away forever? Was she...right about humans?

"Er, can I ask you a question?" she finally calls, making sure the Doctor can hear her properly.

"Well of course. I can't tell you no. It's your mind," he answers.

"For one, you're confusing me beyond belief. Humans are supposed to try and grab me, crush me, think I'm not a person just because of how small I am. I never should have come in here and I wish I listened to my parents about never getting interested about humans and what they do and who they are. I mean, it's not because you seem awful because honestly I'd love to talk to you for days and learn as much as possible. It's just, you're _human_ ," Lore listens intently as the man breathes in with a sharp breath.

"Well. That is true, humans do tend to do that. But I do promise I will never hurt you. You're as safe with me as anyone else is. How 'bout you give me a chance, eh?" he whispers. The smile is still present as he talks softer than when he started at first.

He just said he wouldn't hurt me.

"That's a promise," Lore breathes as the situation sinks in. He clearly knows exactly where she's sitting. They talked for a little bit, not too long but enough time for someone his size to easily sweep her up. But, he hasn't. Maybe, she can finally ask all those questions she's been dying to ask. Maybe she can do something she's wanted to do her entire life without being scared of getting caught and taken far away from everything she knows and loves.

With that she stands up and peeks her head out from the safety of the lever to meet dark brown eyes bigger than her head.


	4. A Trip

As soon as their eyes meet the Doctor flips out a pair of black glasses, placing them on as he smiles widely.

"Look at you! You're even smaller than I thought!" he exclaims. Lore nods slowly at the reaction, glancing at where his hands might be. Seeing them away and with no intention of moving she then steps out into the light.

"T-the n-name's Lore," she calls, her nerves getting the best of her once again. She trusts he won't grab her but seeing how tall he is while standing a good four feet off the ground is enough to make her heart leap.

"Nice to meet you Lore. So, how'd you get on my ship?" Her eyes widen at that, confused beyond comprehension. She's never heard of a ship before. A boat, train, car, and airplane, but ship is a new term for her.

"Ship?"

"Yep. The TARDIS is my ship and my way of getting around the universe without worrying of crash landing. She's a bit old but loved enough to survive." The Doctor smiles widely at his speech, looking up at the ceiling with a prideful glint. Lore on the other hand doesn't even know what the universe is. She thinks back to ever hearing the two words on a show or movie, but nothing comes up. The couple did tend to watch movies about real life and love stories. It's weird how they never ventured away from that genre. Maybe if she was still home they'd be watching something about a universe…

"You okay Lore?"

Lore jerks back at the sudden question, quickly nodding her head. "Yes Doctor. I just, I don't know what a ship or a universe is," she mutters. Her head ducks down in embarrassment.

This man who has been so kind to her obviously wants to talk and beam about his prized possession. The borrower would love to hear about it but there seems to be a barrier of language between the two. Maybe he isn't talking english or she hasn't watched the right movies in the vent to know as much as she thought she knew about humans. Either way Lore better learn fast or get left behind on a few stories.

"Would you like me to show you?"

Her head snaps up at the question, eyes wider than humanly possible. Meeting his eyes the Doctor laughs and winks at the tiny girl. "Really? You wouldn't mind showing me what they are?"

"'Course not!" He suddenly jogs around the console to the other side as he begins to press a series of buttons.

"But wouldn't I slow you down! Or take your time away!" She's not answered as the deafening noise of the wheezing engine fills the room. Lore grabs hold of the lever she once hid behind while attempting to cover her ears. The entire room shakes and tilts like it won't ever stop. It stops just as suddenly though, a wide grinning Doctor walking over with the glasses off and hands in his pockets.

"Take my time away? For me that's not possible. But even if it was per say I'd love to show you everything I know. It's a bit better than everyone else I've talked to, all paying attention to money and family and frankly seem to know everything I'm about to say. I'm spontaneous I tell you!" Lore laughs at his rant and peels herself away from the lever. Reaching the edge her paper clip is out in a second as she looks up to his gleaming face.

"I'm glad I could help. How about a deal then to make it up to you?"

"A deal?" he mutters, eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully.  
"I sort of owe you Doctor. For not grabbing me or anything like that. Thank you by the way but I kind of feel like I need to offer something in return. So, after doing me a favor in showing me the universe, you get to ask a favor of me." Lore slides her paper clip into the small space between the two different metals of the console and looks up at the towering man expectantly. She half believed he would wrinkle his nose, not wanting anything from a two inch tall borrower who couldn't possibly do anything helpful. On the contrary, he surprises her yet again as he bounces on the balls of his feet excitedly.

"Deal! And it can change if one or the other isn't comfortable." He reaches his hand out with a single finger extended at this proclamation. Lore stares at the giant digit, scared it might move and sweep her off the high console, but it simply sits there with waves of heat washing over her. Taking a deep breath Lore extends a hand and grips as much of the first finger she can.

Overwhelmed by heat her eyes widen at how soft it actually is to the touch, giving in a bit to the pressure her hand puts on the pad. Her body melts into the warmness she's never been able to feel, no matter how many blankets she throws over herself. All in all it's an incredible feeling.

"Deal."

"Alright then! Let's go!" Lore nods fast and leaps off the console into the air, the fishing line already over the edge and waiting for her to grab it. Like before she quickly grabs the line before she's too close to the ground, halting about half an inch above the holed floor. She keeps smiling, the expression plastered onto her face, as she reels in the paper clip hopefully one final time. When she turns to the human though, the smile quickly dissipates.

He stands right next to her, showing a perfect view of black converse pointed directly at her and standing barely above her height. His brown clad legs seem to stretch for miles as she slowly looks up. At his knees Lore finds herself bending back just to see the rest of him. Never has she been this close to a human before on the ground, but him being taller than most throws the reality she's helpless against this giant no matter who he is right into perspective.

The only thing that keeps her from running is the wide smile stretched across his beaming face.

"That was bloody brilliant," the Doctor winks. Lore glances up to the console, much closer than the man's face, but still fairly high above the ground. For her at least.

"Oh. Sorry." Lore rubs her aching hands against her pants, mad at her for doing the same thing twice in one day. They'll ache even more in the morning but she was too excited to remember her calluses aren't strong enough to stop the burns from that stunt from forming. "I just got a bit excited. I'm not supposed to do it."

"I could understand that. It seems dangerous, but we don't have to tell anyone." Lore laughs and looks at the door.

"Er, how can you show me the universe?"

"Glad you asked! Come on now!"

The giant black shoes suddenly spin and quickly walk away from where Lore stands. At first she becomes a bit petrified, able to see a sliver of the underside of the shoe, but it passes as she runs to follow the man. He promised he wouldn't hurt her and he hasn't given her any reason to not believe that so she can't get jumpy by an everyday action.

"Alright. This is the universe. Just don't walk outside or else you might lose gravity's effect," the Doctor says once she reaches the phone booth's doors. She nods from the ground as a question forms in her head about gravity, but that's for later.

With a flourish the doors swing open to reveal a black sky. The center of the view is a cluster of balls of light, different shades of read and blues mixed into the dark outline. A few white dots are scattered faintly around the cluster of light, and it all seems to be moving like clouds in the sky. No breeze comes and no air is sucked away from the two watching the scene, safe as they experience one of the world's greatest wonders.

"Wha, what is it?" Lore breathes. Never before has she seen something so beautiful, so breathtaking. It's as if everything wonderful in the world got smashed onto a black canvas.

"That's the universe from about four million light years away. Earth is over in that section." Lore jumps at hearing him so close, nearly having a heart attack when his long arm stretches to her right to point at the top of the ball of lights. All is forgiven though as she soaks in the information.

"What's Earth."

"Where New York City is. A planet with the frailest creatures I've ever met. The universe consists of stars, giant balls of gas a thousand times my size, and planets, much like stars in size but they don't cast any light. Earth is next to the sun, a giant star that lights up the world in the day and casts it into darkness at night. This though is the picture of billions and billions of stars and planets all seen from one angle."

As he spoke Lore nodded her head at certain points. She knew what New York City was, learning it so if something ever happened she could get back to her family. But apparently New York was really small. And so was the planet it was on compared to everything else glowing in front of her. Humans apparently aren't as big as they seem to be.

"Stars are bigger than you?" she asks. The Doctor chuckles and she feels the air shift behind her as he nods.

"Yep. And so is Earth. It's the only way for people like you and me to walk on. Without it we'd simply float in space aimlessly. Or just never be created." This earns his own nod from Lore as she tears her eyes away from the beautiful scene. As much as she'd love to stare at it as long as she lived, she knew she had to pay the Doctor back for doing such an incredible thing. After that she might have to settle for the grand view if he wants to drop her off.

Lore has so many more questions in her mind after what the Doctor gave her. But if he didn't want to answer them, she could live knowing at least one human was trustworthy.

"Alright Doctor. Now it's your turn."


End file.
